Federated Farmers has appointed Mike Siermans as its new chief executive.
Siermans has been the organisation’s interim CEO since September last year, following Terry Copeland’s departure after seven years in the role.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said Siermans brought extensive senior leadership and commercial experience that set him apart from other candidates.
"Mike’s experience in sales, marketing and corporate management will be a huge asset for our organisation. He understands that strong advocacy needs to be backed by sharp commercial nous."
Langford said he was looking forward to making sure Federated Farmers was a well-oiled, modern machine set up to deliver outcomes for farmers.
"The organisation’s results speak for themselves, with clear messaging, a long list of major policy wins, and a membership base growing for the first time in a generation. It’s now Mike’s job to pick that up and continue to build on that platform."
Before joining Federated Farmers, Siermans built a commercial career across fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and technology.
He held senior sales and marketing roles at Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Animal Health, and most recently at Taura Natural Ingredients.
Siermans sees his broad commercial experience as central to his role at Federated Farmers.
"My job as CEO is to make sure we’ve got the right strategy, team and culture that’s going to set us up to succeed for the next 125 years. That means we’ll continue to modernise the organisation, with a real focus on creating sustainable revenue streams and finding new ways to grow our products and services.”
Siermans and his wife live in Tauranga, and they have three adult children.
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